1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to a paper feeder and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a device and method for controlling a paper interval in a paper feeder of an image forming apparatus, and an image forming apparatus including the device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent laser printers or multi-function apparatuses (hereinafter, these will be referred to as laser printing apparatuses) have become fast with the development of printing technology. Paper feeding is considered as one of the most important factors determining the performance of high-speed laser printing apparatuses, and thus many efforts have been made to develop more reliable paper feeding techniques.
As the printing speed of laser printing apparatuses increases, the importance of controlling the distance between printing media such as sheets of paper is also increased. Hereinafter, the distance between sheets of paper may be referred to as a paper interval or interval between sheets of paper. The printing process speed of laser printing apparatuses may be simply increased by increasing the speed of a driving motor. This, however, may increase noise and vibrations and may make it difficult to control images, and thus high-quality, low-noise later printing apparatuses (image forming apparatuses) may not be provided using such a method. Therefore, technology for minimizing the interval between sheets of paper is needed to increase the printing process speed of image forming apparatuses while minimally increasing the speed of a driving motor.